After witnessing Dr. Dre working in the studio for many years I would have to say that one of most important facts missing from the N.W.A movie [Straight Outta Compton] is not just aspects of Dre’s personal and political life and vision, but a clear description of the high level of sonic mastery and expertise that he has exhibited and presented to the world for the past 30 years.
When Russell Simmons and Rick Rubin presented Def Jam’s Hip Hop productions to the world with classics by Run DMC, LL Cool J and Beastie Boys, they brought not only productions that had dynamic and socially relevant songs to the world, but also a level of sonic excellence that was achieved by bringing top musicians and mixing engineers into the studio to engineer and fine tune those sound recordings.
The difference between Dr. Dre and most producers is that when most producers get to a level where they feel they have the songs strong enough, they then bring in top level Grammy award-winning mixing engineers like Manny Maroquin, Serban Ghenea and Jimmy Douglass to fine tune the sonics and perfect them. Most successful hit producers are usually known to be paired with a world renowned sonic genius who has studied electronics and the use of probably either the Neve or SSL consoles who will then take the music and fine tune the frequencies in order to maximize the sonic experience. These mixers are well studied and learned persons who have mastered and perfected the art of combining science and math with audio technology on the same level as a person who has mastered any other complex scientific machinery that is extremely difficult to operate and requires a highly proficient level most often associated with technical geniuses.
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Take a look at an SSL console. You’ve probably seen them in pictures and have always stopped to think, “How do they use that thing? How do they operate all of the levers and buttons?” As a music producer, I will guarantee you that most of the people you’ve probably seen sitting in front of these consoles in a picture have no idea how to operate them proficiently either.
“Boyz In The Hood” Sonically Stands The Test Of Time
https://youtu.be/fGeNDnYcQOA
While watching Straight Outta Compton, one of the interesting things to note is not only “Boyz In The Hood,” a great and timeless recording of Eazy-E that soulfully captures a bit of LA inner city history, but it’s also a recording so sonically proficient that 30 years later it stands up well next to anything recorded and on the radio today. This anomaly is the case of all of Dre’s most well know records. Let’s get to the reason why.
Many of Dre’s most famous recordings not only begin with him programming the first kick and snare drum, but they also end with him mixing the records with a scientific and sonic mastery created by his own two hands. Dre is not only the producer of the song and a writer of his music but is also the engineer who has mixed all of the recordings that he has released. There is no other scientific genius brought in to enhance his sounds or “man behind the curtain,” because he is that scientific technical genius.
Most, if not all of the greater producers of all time have brought in the greatest drummer to set the tone and rhythm of the recording. Dre as the drum programmer is that drummer on his greatest records. At the end of producing the vocal and then getting a song sounding strong, Quincy Jones, Rick Rubin, T-Bone —and most of the current all-time greats and Grammy Producer of the Year —then bring in the top mixer and sonic mathematician engineers of their generation to mix their productions. Sonic scientists like Tom Lord Algae, Bruce Sweiden and David Ferguson often come to mind as the mixers who have enhanced the productions of the greats to make them sonically brilliant and timeless. One of the main facts missing from a movie about musicians and recordings is that Dr Dre is not only producing but is also mixing his own records personally to some of the highest audiofile quality ever witnessed.
Much of the modern tone of globally appreciated Hip Hop recordings was developed by the Doctor’s hands. Kanye West once discussed his dream of making New York beats with “Los Angeles sonics.” Kanye West wrote the summary for Dr. Dre in an article about greatest artists in Rolling Stone magazine where he stated Dr. Dre’s song “Xxplosive” as where he “got his whole sound from.”
Dr. Dre is at the core of the development of taking Hip Hop records to that higher level of scientific and audio mastery. Influences of his mixing and placement of kick, snare and vocal can be heard in everything today from Britney Spears to Madonna to One Direction records and anything else that uses Hip Hop beats made with drum machines that imitate his crisp, clear, clean and thumping production sound.
In Straight Outta Compton I witnessed Dre doing a bit of production work (in comedic fashion), getting ready to record 2pac’s vocal on “California Love” and developing the keyboard line on “Nuthin’ But a G Thang”. In between there were N.W.A performances, family back story, business and police confrontations and sexual liaisons.
However, if the story were really “keeping it real” to what Dr. Dre is regularly all about on a daily level, what you would really see would see on screen would be Mr. Young painstakingly behind the SSL console for hours, days and years on end first learning and then perfecting the use of electronic engineering on his mixing console and applying those skills with detail on the level of the highest rated electronic engineer in any field, and then using that rare and unprecedented skill to deliver recordings of the highest sound quality of our modern generation. No other big name producer has even come close to his programming and engineering skills, that have projected the recordings of Eminem, Gwen Stefani, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige and yes, even J.J. FAD’s “Supersonic” into perfected sonic hits that can stand up forever as timeless and spectacular.
When buying a product from a company often we have the choice to choose the high end most expensive version or possibly a cheaper version that is more applicable to the budget of the average person. One thing we can agree on that the most important thing on a Beats headset is the signature of Dr. Dre, which represents and stands for decades of sonic achievement.
So, take the Compton soundtrack album and put it on in your Beats headset, or even better on the highest quality pair of speakers that you can get in front of. Not trying to sweep any personal drama under the rug, but while listening to Dre’s sonic excellence, remember that although Van Gogh cut off his ear in 1888, more than 100 years later what we all know and appreciate is that Starry Night is an artistic achievement in human developmental accomplishment.
….. and yes I just compared Dr. Dre to Vincent Van Gogh.
Mark Batson is a multi-platinum award winning producer, musician and songwriter for Alicia Keys, Dave Matthews Band, Grace Potter, Seal, Dr Dre and Eminem. He is an alumni of Howard University and also former pianist for The Smithsonian Institution’s African American Culture Department.
Wonderful article. Very informative and interesting.
Finally, an article about music! Music is much more than a hot beat and a hot 16 (verse), it’s more about sound construction, what it takes to get the sound that you hear out of your speakers and what method is used to achieve that. Dr. Dre is by far one of the best producers/audio engineers to ever do it. Even if you don’t like his music, you can never deny you don’t like his “Sound”
Dr Dre works with a team of producers. Dont act like he is the king of beatmaking. Also he sampled for the chronic George Clintons funk music. So steals other peoples music and adds a bassline or speed the track up. Dr Dre is NOT A GENIUS!
The article was about his skills as a sound engineer. His ability to get the sounds used to sound clean and clear.
thats cool bro, but did you read the article? did you COMPREHEND the words that were written?
you sir, are a hater. everybody’s known for years he has a team of beat makers and uses ghost writers. do you even know what a producer actually does? Dre’s records sound the way they do because of his crazy skills and ear for the perfect sound. That’s why I can turn on Boyz in the Hood right now and it sounds better/cleaner than the majority of anything else being recorded today. I bet you weren’t even born yet when Dre was releasing his earlier classics
Damn, fools don’t read sh*t! Just come the net and start trolling without cause. This article is about sound engineering, soundscaping and sonic audio productions and you are talking about who makes beats?! GTFOH. Also, I bet that whatever producers Dre works with, he (dre) makes the music sound 100x’s better than the original. Learn to read and comprehend.
where I am from 30+ years in business making the money he has made, makes him Genius if you love or hate him. With or with out talent like some say.
Can’t stand this article. Was this article paid for by Dr. Dre?? If not, this is ass kissing at it’s finest with a little bit of bullshit added for flavor.
Sonic genius? Most definitely. Am a fan of his work since the early ’90’s.
But you good sir, clearly never heard a decent pair of headphones. Those Beats are highly overpriced and very average headphones, filled with standard parts. Dre has probably spent as much time studying marketing than he’s studied sound.
Well he was talking about the sonic genius of his music, and not the headphones, so there’s that…..
bigbassbrian.com
Dr. Dre is a mastermind im not racist by a long but he’s the super dope producer who brought a white boy into a genre a music dominated by blacks and made him very relivent to this very because several white people have tried to rap and didnt work out to well….dre is the best hands down
Folks, I promise that there are better producers than Dre. It’s funny to me how when certain artists become super rich and famous (Jay-Z, Dre etc) and are constantly in the public eye, clowns will come out of nowhere and start talking all kind of bullshit and making it seems like these artists are the best to ever do it, absolute geniuses, Einsteins of music etc etc… Nothing but BULLSHIT! People weren’t saying that shit back in the 90’s, why now?? Dre has released some garbage in his career as well such as The Aftermath album (mostly produced by Dre) for example. His music is not all great, so called genius material, believe me. By the way, keep in mind when watching the Straight Outta Compton movie, it is highly exaggerated. Oh and Mexicans are taking over Compton, hahahaha, you fucking clowns!
People WERE saying it about Dre in the 90s. Hell, his production was mentioned a lot in reviews of NWA’s albums. He was highly regarded in 1992, and has only gotten better. You don’t know what you are talking about & likely weren’t alive in 1992. Go to bed, Junior, school is in session tomorrow.
Puff Daddy of the west.
Except Puff Daddy isn’t a producer. He’s just a business man who pays others to make the beats and rhymes and puts his own name on it. At least Dre is actually doing something
Doggystyle sounds amazing to this day. It booms infact. Greatest rap album ever released bar none
Only one rap album is better, The Chronic
but dre didn’t produce doggystyle, daz dillinger did. dre paid him off and took production credits
This man speaking is CERTIFIED; and 6 him 2 hand out those praises for his engineering skills says alot. Dre may not be the best producer,per say, ever but his sonic out put is top notch.
Was this article written to save the fact that the album is mostly produced by other people beat wise? And what drama with dre was mark batson speaking on?
The article is actually not about the production per se but the final mix down process and engineering of the finished product sound quality
Dre is notorious for using the best engineers best producers best songwriters. basically whoever is the best at it will eventually get a call from this bloodsucker to get a piece and take claim as his own. Ask Storch and the countless other producers he’s swindled. Dre had the money and resources back then to use industry standard if not industry heavyweights to mix and master that first nwa record. He’s a great entertainer no question but just as big a leech as puffy as far as taking credit for other peoples hard work. Its called the music business for a reason. note in how he went and bought the best writer to make it sound like he’s the greatest mixer of all-time. Funny thing is all of those mixers they name in this article Im sure have been used by Dre. SMH fucking clown
Hello DeezNutz2015,
First of all, what well known producer is not known for bringing in the best engineers and best songwriters to work with? Quincy Jones has never engineered an album and has always produced songs that were written by other people. That is why they call it production. Scott Storch has never been swindled by Dr. Dre and has nothing but the utmost respect for him. The reason why I know this is that I have often been in the studio with by Scott and Dre at the same time working on songs… and note that the procedure for which the songs were created, recorded and mixed is the same as in this article. I was not paid to write this article and only wrote it to try to explain to the average person what Dr. Dre does in the studio and the level that he does it on. This particular article focuses directly on Dre’s mixing and engineering skills which are often downplayed because if properly noted it would put him on a scientific genius level and many people are not comfortable with that fact and would prefer to portray him as a guy who spends most of his time at parties and drinking with hot chicks.
Sincerely,
Mark Batson
You lying sack of ish. Scott Storch himself said Dr. Dre was the greatest producer he has ever worked with… and went on to explain how the process of working with him elevated his own production skills. Stop your lying to the people f+ck boy ass
Hey Mark, don’t sweat it. There are trolls and haters on pretty much every single board of every single article on every single website of the internet. The internet is a silly place.
Dr. Dre’s life is an inspiration! How many of you out there can be all out till you get it all? Well don’t be surprised that you don’t really appreciate what you want. Myself, Dre’s a mentor. I want you’ll talking about Dre the bad way to tryna do some’ great, and you’ll be all searching for the best. Its a normal thing. Fuck ya’ll!
Rza is the greatest. Ask a Dr Dre.
Dr Dre, J. Dilla, Timbo .. you can’t hate on greatness.
bernie grundman????????????
bernie grundman does mastering. he does not mix records. They are two totally different things.
Dudes right, Compton has been mostly mexican for years
Dr. Dre knows DJ Premier is a legend and neither one would work with bitch ass Drake you fuckin Drake stan trolls lol
Well, Premier has now worked with Drake.
IS THIS A JOKE ? LMAO. of course dre uses engineers but he is involved in the mixing too
Dre n premier re good bt no one enjoyed a good run lyk scott storch
I can’t believe how few people understand he’s talking about his mixing and engineering skills. It’s embarrassing how few people comprehend this great article. Yes, Dre works with a team of producers, but literally everyone who has worked with him says he’s the master at directing what needs to be done and how things need to sound. Even if he didn’t make the beat, he has countless executive producer credits because he spends hours on end mixing someone’s album. There is a reason why his signature sound FEELS so good. The crispness comes through yet one can feel every snare or bass line. You don’t have to like Dre as a person; I don’t, really, but respect his music.
“developing the keyboard line on “Nuthin’ But a G Thang””
Dre didn’t develop anything. It’s the same melody from the original song by Leon Haywood. I wished they’d have been clearer about that in the movie. It’s easily interpreted as if he improvised that line.
i don’t know where this guy gets his information, but Dr Dre does NOT program his beats. various programmers do that. Also, Dr Dre DOES work with engineers. Furthermore, he has live musicians playing various things on the record. As opposed to him programming it. For a better perspective on where Dr Dre’s beats come from, watch some YouTube videos about Scott Storch.
Imagine not knowing who Mark Batson is
I don’t think anyone saying Dr. Dre doesn’t produce his own beats/drums is a reliable source. Dr. Dre is a goat. Stop denying yourself on how great of an artist/influence he was. I think anyone who has worked with or known Dre personally will tell you that you’re an idiot who doesn’t know what they’re talking about. I dare one of you to try and accomplish the equivalent of what Dr. Dre’s left pinky has accomplished. Maybe if you spent your time and countless hours in the studio perfecting your craft or doing something with your life then maybe you could better understand exactly what it is that Dr. Dre has done for the culture and the amount he had to sacrifice to get it to where the point it is today. Get off your high horse and just give the man the respect he deserves…or don’t. It doesn’t make a difference either way. The legacy has already been built and no amount of words can undo what has been done.